Agriculture

By this time last year, I had picked loads of cherry tomatoes. The hot spring worked to the advantage of ripening tomatoes by the 4th of July.

This year has played out a little differently, but the tomatoes don’t seem to mind. They look great, have generous fruit set and will be ripening soon enough.

So far the plants are remarkably free of any pest problem, brown or yellowing leaf or rotting fruit. Most are heirloom varieties. They were fertilized once at planting with fish emulsion and immediately mulched with newspaper and pine straw.

Training horses may not be an unusual activity in Shelby County, but one woman is taking things a little further than usual.

Mary Rose Sawicki lives in Oldham County, attends the University of Louisville and leases farm land north of Simpsonville owned by Phyllis Tate, and she is one of 43 successful applicants who entered this year’s Extreme Mustang Makeover competition, organized by the Mustang Heritage Foundation, and is now tasked with taming and training a wild mustang from Nevada and preparing it for sale at auction in August.

State fair entry

deadlines coming up

The general entry deadline for all categories of the 2013 Kentucky State Fair competitions is July 1, and all entries must be postmarked by this date.

All entries can be made online now by visiting www.kystatefair.org and filling out the online entry form. Forms are also available as a PDF and can be mailed once completed. Late general entries will be accepted, with an additional fee, until July 10.

I value the guardian behavior of our animals as one is charged to protect the other. We have house cats that are free to go outside; barn cats that mostly hang out in the garage; a companion red heeler mutt who rarely leaves my side; and a Maremma livestock guardian dog (LGD).

Baxter, the LGD, has challenged our thinking in owning dogs. He has reinforced that animals follow their instincts above all else. He is not a pet, but rather a worker that is a critical component to keeping our farm alive.